Eva Smith Flashcards
1
“Two hours ago a young woman died in the Infirmary. She’d been
taken there this afternoon because she’d swallowed a lot of strong
disinfectant. Burnt her inside out, of course”
2
“Now – about this girl, Eva Smith. I remember her quite well now. She
was a lively good-looking girl – country-bred, I fancy – and she’d been
working in one of our shops for over a year. A good worker too.”
3
“…and died, after several hours of agony…”
4
“She was a very pretty girl…that didn’t make it any better.”
5
“She was young and pretty and warm-hearted- and intensely grateful. I
became at once the most important person in her life- you
understand?”
6
“She was giving herself ridiculous airs…claiming elaborate fine
feelings…that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.”
7
“As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!”
8
“I wasn’t in love with her or anything- but I liked her- she was pretty
and a good sport-”
9
“she didn’t want me to marry her. Said I didn’t love her- and all that. In
a way, she treated me- as if I were a kid. Though I was nearly as old as
she was.”
10
“Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an
animal, a thing, not a person.”
11
“But remember this. One Eva Smith has gone- but there are millions
and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with
us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of
happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say
and do.”
